Pastor Kills Himself After Being Charged With Molesting 12-Year Old Family Member
Church members are left reeling after their pastor shot himself to death in a Columbia hospital, killing himself after being charged with molesting a family member under the age of 12 over a two-year period. The Columbia Daily Herald reports:
“Just a day after Columbia Pastor David Baker, Sr. was charged with aggravated sexual battery by Maury County Sheriff’s Office, he has died of apparent suicide, according to Columbia Police Chief Jeremy Alsup.
Baker served as lead pastor of Family Baptist Church in Columbia and ran as a candidate for Maury County mayor in the 2022 election.
According to Alsup, Baker “walked into the ER at Maury Regional Medical Center, went straight to the bathroom and was soon found deceased in the bathroom.” Bond was posted at $200,000 early Wednesday after his arrest Tuesday. A court date was previously set for Oct. 9.”
A thread on Reddit purporting to be from a church member who knew Baker (who is/was married with eleven children) and who says he led them to the Lord expressed pain and confusion over the incident, asking how they can ever trust a church or a pastor again:
My husband and I need some advice. We are both very new Christian’s. I was raised in the faith but left and he was not raised at all. About 2 years ago a pastor came to our door and invited us to church. This man helped my husband come to believe in God, baptized us, and married us. This man taught us how to deal with spiritual warfare that my husband has dealt with since being a kid. Well, on the 10th, he was arrested for aggravated sexual assault (likely involving a minor). He posted bond, walked into the hospital and shot himself twice in the chest.
Now I’m a victim of a pedophile too so I know how it makes you feel. After doing some searching I’ve realized a majority of the people in the church have some type of child offense or violent s*xual offense.
These are people I considered a friend. My husband considered a friend. What do we do from here? We are good friends with pastors kids, but I can’t go back to the church. I have a lot of complex feelings because he did the unthinkable, but he taught us so much. (I’m not excusing his behavior. I just need to know what would you do? How would you go forward?) we’re still new to the faith and I’m not upset with God, we still want to attended church but how can I trust another pastor? How can I trust another church?
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This person made a devastating choice for everyone- himself, his family, the church, the victim… everyone. Additionally, the justice system hasn’t done its job. No one will know that there is a crime or hopefully, the consequences of such actions. The fact this has occurred over two years raises the inevitable question: How many more victims are there?
Why are sexual predator pastors/clergy so devastating? Because the church is the one place where someone should be guaranteed safety. It’s supposed to be a hospital for the physically and spiritually wounded to find restoration, and then they in turn would rehabilitate others. It’s not a social club for displaying false piety. It’s not a tiny kingdom ruled by the overbearing leader or their henchmen. It is supposed to be a living, breathing organization dedicated to JC’s teachings where all are welcome, but need to play a part as well. Will we ever see a glimpse of that here? Sadly I fear not until Christ returns.
We live in a time of rampant sexual immorality. It is no surprise that it has infiltrated the church. And if I could gently correct my fellow poster, part of the problem is the notion that all are welcome. Scripture is very clear, all are not welcome. If the “church” were following scriptures such as 1 Cor. 5, such individuals would not be welcomed, and if present, immediately kicked out. But instead, the “church” has perverted the grace of God into a license for immorality. If his wife had divorced him for his continuance in sexual sin, and the effective support thereof. (and I’m referring to the facts given in the previous article here as a guestpost), then she would not now find herself homeless.
The lady on Redditt, ” we still want to attended church but how can I trust another pastor? How can I trust another church?”
The answer my dear sister is that you can’t, and you shouldn’t. Trust the Lord and only the Lord. Put ALL your trust in Him, because only He is worthy of trust. Only He can provide true security, peace, and assurance. That’s what it’s all about to begin with.
And these events are evidence. Had His word been trusted from the beginning, many would not now find themselves in the mess they’re now in. Not only should he, and other disgraced “pastors” he supported, never be allowed back into the ministry. They should never be allowed back inside the doors of the church.
“walked into the ER at Maury Regional Medical Center, went straight to the bathroom and was soon found deceased in the bathroom.”
Whoever used that bathroom just prior had probably eaten at a Taco Bell buffet.
My advice to the new Christians in this article is to not put your faith, hope or trust in sinful humans, including pastors. They aren’t your gurus, they aren’t your saviors, and some of them aren’t even as qualified or as smart as you. Put your hope, faith and trust in Jesus. Church is not “Club God,” it’s primarily a place to foster and develop your relationship with Christ. Fellowship with other believers is good and commanded, but it’s secondary to your relationship with Jesus. Jesus does nothing wrong, and in fact we have been warned through Scripture about wolves among the sheep. If this Pastor had been a true believer he probably would have been filled with remorse and sought forgiveness while taking his legal and spiritual correction. Instead, he took the easy way out. Hopefully he’s not in Hell.
100%
You don’t need a physical building. Your body is your church. You have a personal relationship with Christ. I’ve been to over 100 different denomination of chuches in my area over 20 years. Not a single one resonated at all. Each one took my phone number, email, name. It’s extraordinary when weeks to months later I get an anoymousn message giving details on a member or pastor who is a predator. To not return if I felt vulnerable because these people take advantage of you. Take your money. Do not teach the true Bible. That the “old god” of the old testament is really Satan. Jesus even refers to it! A specific religion of Israel inverted everything about the Bible. Get away from the organizations. Read and follow the new testament only. Just try to be like Jesus and his parables. If you have a negative attachment, keep praying a dozen or more times a day for it to leave. Those things wear out. The darkness leaves. But you need to be persistent and consistent. If you are on any Big Pharma psych drug, get off it completely. Get CBD oil.
No, Jesus often quoted and referred to the Old Testament. And His teaching was actually more strict. Matt 5:17-48 is a good passage to start with, if you want to understand. As He says, He came not to abolish the law but to fulfill the law.
Jesus did not sin. In other words, He did not violate one iota of the Old Testament moral law, which defines what is and is not sin. And it still defines it, which the New Testament reiterates several times. And that includes passages such as Prov. 17:15. Jesus never condemned righteousness, and He never justified wickedness. The New Testament demands respect for the Old Testament. If you reject the OT, then you’re not really paying attention to the NT.
@Jonathan R. you said, “You don’t need a physical building. Your body is your church. You have a personal relationship with Christ.”
I agree that a physical building is definitely not a church and that by having a relationship with Christ you are part of the church, but the Biblical word ‘church’ means a gathering of believers.
You cannot function as the church by yourself. You must be a part of a local church or it is a guarantee that you will be stagnant in your Christian growth (Heb. 10:24–25; Eph. 4:11–13). It’s God’s design that He was willing to give His Son to die for. I think the church—and that includes local churches—matters to God a great deal.
This idea that we can just live the Christian life by ourselves without a local congregation is completely foreign to the New Testament. I typically find this thinking among carnal and immature Christians. Everyone has a responsibility and a need to find the best local church they can (one that is as doctrinally sound as possible) and to be an active part of its ministry.
@Generic. That’s a good clarification. It appears some might’ve mistaken my original comment to mean “can’t and shouldn’t” attend church, and that is not what I meant. It just needs to be kept in check. Heb. 10:24-25 begs the question, who are “one another”. It’s not referring to the world. It’s not referring to “all are welcome”. In context, we know to judge by the fruit. We know one who continues in sin is not born again (1 John 3, etc.), and scripture tells us there are many who claim the name of Jesus who are false teachers, workers of iniquity, etc., who we are specifically told to avoid (2 Tim. 3:5, etc.).
As soon as you say “all are welcome”, for example, then such scripture no longer applies. Certainly “one another” does not refer to the entire godless world, much less those we are specifically told to turn away from and not associate with.
My point is that it all needs to be kept in check. If your local “church” is full of people the Bible tells us specifically to avoid, then what? Well, then you don’t go. You honor the Lord first. You put Him first above all. That’s what you do.
With so many denominations and organized churches becoming apostate these days, we should be very careful that we do not burden brothers and sisters with misplaced guilt, or overly pressure people to attend anything calling itself a church just for the sake of attending church. That only feeds into the wickedness. And it serves the exact opposite purpose for assembling ourselves together given in passages such as Heb 10. It doesn’t strengthen and encourage. It weakens and discourages.
We just need to be careful. That’s my point.
Go find a church with a pastor who is actually saved. It will be hard, but they are out there. You will know them by their fruits. I wonder what signs there were with the pastor and church.
“Pastor” is only mentioned once in the New Testament, as one of the many gifts given to church age believers by the Spirit. Pastor is not one man leading a church. Otherwise the leadership of anyone church group is always in the plural, that is “elders” and “deacons”. Having one person to be focussed upon as a singular leader is therefore, not Biblical. No one person should be one’s spiritual leader, much less a group of people. Only Jesus Christ is the Person, the “Author and Finisher of our faith”.
@Ron W you seemed to miss Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2, both of which use the verbal form of the word ‘pastor’ and identify it with being an elder/overseer. In other words, being an elder is being a pastor. They are one and the same. So, there are actually several passages that deal with the role of pastors, and it is an important part of a New Testament church. It is listed in Ephesians 4:11 alongside evangelists as one of the current gifts specifically designed to foster spiritual maturity in the church.
It is true that elders are discussed in the plural, but that doesn’t demand that every congregation have a plurality. In most contexts, the elders addressed involve a plurality of congregations. In other contexts, the plurality is a description of a congregation without ever being stated as a command.
The main problem with forcing all congregations to have a plurality of elders is that smaller congregations, especially, may not have more than one qualified man. The reality is that many ‘elders’ are wholly unqualified, but just to meet their quota, they put even very unspiritual men in those positions so that there is a plurality. Plurality is ideal, but the character and doctrine of the leaders must take priority—even if that leaves you with only one elder.
Often, I think the forcing of plurality works against the very thing that its most vocal adherents are trying to prevent: leaders causing spiritual harm to a congregation. When a group of unspiritual men lead a church, sometimes the damage can go unnoticed for far too long because of the false security of plurality.
Generic, both passages mention the leadership being in the plural, (I Peter 5:1 starts with elders and continues to verse 2) so both are in agreement with my point. This story is sadly, only one of many that putting the focus on one man leadership, which is more of the “tradition of men” and not the Biblical ideal. Pastor is only mentioned as one of the spiritual gifts which the Spirit may give
, just as other gifts, to more than one person in any group of believers. (I Corinthians 12 4-11) Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church.
Generic,
Here is the passage (all CAP emphasis mine):
8 Therefore He saith, “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave GIFTS unto men.”
9 (Now the saying, “He ascended” — what does it mean but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same who also ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11 And He gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some PASTORS and teachers,
My email was inadvertently put in the Name—not intended.
@Ron W you pretty much ignored what I said. I already explained the use of the plural. You are reading a lot into something that addresses numerous congregations in Asia Minor. Of course ‘elder’ is in the plural.
You also missed the point that there are many passages that address pastors. Yes, only one specifically addresses it as a gift, but then again there are only four passages in the NT that list gifts and none present the same list.
Ephesians 4 is particularly significant because it ties the gift of pastor-teacher to a limited group of gifts specifically designed to facilitate spiritual growth in the church. Other gifts are certainly important, but they do not play such a pivotal role in God’s design for the church as those listed in Ephesians 4. So, trying to downplay the importance of pastors when it is listed alongside the gifts of apostles and prophets is a silly goal.
As far as one-man leadership being of the “tradition of men”—that sounds like a tradition of men that you are imposing on Scripture because you certainly didn’t come to that exegetically. Nowhere does Scripture state anything like that.
And now, if you had read my original response, you would have responded to the fact that you are inventing a rule that Scripture never commands on churches. Small congregations that do not have a plurality of qualified men will be placed in the predicament of appointing unqualified men when trying to abide by such a man-made rule. Don’t be surprised when you have a carnal group of apathetic leaders overseeing a church. If you want spiritual leadership, make the character and doctrine of an elder the priority rather than a contrived standard of plurality.
“Don’t be surprised when you have a carnal group of apathetic leaders overseeing a church. If you want spiritual leadership, make the character and doctrine of an elder the priority rather than a contrived standard of plurality.”
The vast majority of “pastors” (HIRELINGS) are CURRENTLY carnal, apathetic perverts and wolves in sheep’s clothing. You will see this play out more and more each day.
Jesus Christ told us WHO we should be getting our TRUTH from:
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.”
Nowhere in the New Testament does it say to see a pastor weekly. Made up nonsense. Jesus sent us the Spirit of God to teach us, correct us, and guide us, among many other things. God is waking up His people.
All of these Hirelings and the Church Industrial Complex are being destroyed. The numbers do not lie. God is tearing all of this man-made nonsense to the ground.
For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it!!!
@King and Priest I always find it interesting when people speak with such force while denying clear parts of Scripture and ignoring the context of passages they quote.
First, yes some pastors are carnal. Of course the congregations that call them are usually a part of what you have called the “church industrial complex”—which is a counterfeit of God’s design. But there are still many churches that are faithful and doctrinally sound. And many pastors who are the faithful and doctrinally sound as well. Just broadly accusing and maligning pastors and local churches in general is to slander God’s design for the present age. Seems like a pretty frightening thing to slander God’s design that He gave His Son to die for and to rule over.
The passage you quoted, which you oddly didn’t include the reference to, is from John 16. The “guiding” by the Holy Spirit into all truth is specifically a promise to the disciples that the Spirit would come to guide them into the writing of the New Testament, from which we all benefit as we now have the completed canon. It’s important that you read the context of passages and don’t just proof text to try to support your own agenda.
You say that nowhere in the New Testament does it say to see a pastor weekly. Well it does say to gather regularly (Heb. 10:24–25), that local churches that gathered all had elders (Acts 14:23)—which are pastors (Acts 20:28), that pastors are to focus on preaching the Word to train believers (2 Tim. 4:1–5), and that pastors are a key part of God’s design for bringing believers into spiritual maturity (Eph. 4:11–13).
I think the problem is that you are spiritually immature and are largely ignorant of Scripture. Otherwise, you would not repudiate something God has designed simply because you can’t distinguish between counterfeits and the real thing.
To my knowledge, the Bible doesn’t demand any specific organizational structure. I agree with most of what both of you have said here. But I believe the danger is that we may get too carried away with the idea that the solution is a structural problem.
No, if they’re truly born again, as Josey said, and they truly fear and serve the Lord, then it doesn’t much matter whether or not it’s a small congregation with one pastor, or a large congregation in the city with a whole team of pastors.
Maybe the Lord doesn’t give us any overly-specific structure, because that’s not what’s most important.
My two cents worth.
@T the Bible clearly commands an organizational structure that includes at least one elder and one deacon for every congregation, and it provides clear qualifications for those roles.
But the Bible does not command a plurality of elders for every congregation. It’s ideal to have as many elders and deacons as a church needs, but the main priority should always be their character and doctrine.
Right, that’s what I meant by “specific” structure. It doesn’t give us an organizational chart. One elder/pastor is fine as is more than one. I don’t know of any scripture that requires a certain number, or requires more than one.
I’m agreeing with you here, my friend, to a very significant degree. As you say, some churches are doing good just to find one elder/pastor at all. And you’re correct about that. Finding just one who meets scriptural requirements, the foremost of which is that he actually be a born again believer, is an increasingly difficult task these days.
What’s true is that you cannot fix a heart problem by way of structure. Jesus did not die for an organizational chart. Wickedness comes from the heart (Mark 7). That’s the problem. And there is no organizational structure in existence that can magically fix it just by positioning people in a certain way. What fixes it is true repentance, true submission, true fear of the Lord – I.e., as Josey said, men who are actually born again and led by the Holy Spirit. That’s what it’s all about. And that’s the only remedy. Don’t put the design of creation ahead of the Creator Himself. Right. Romans 1. Worship the Creator, not His creation. We live in a fallen world. There will never be heaven on earth.
@T well stated. My hope is that believers would double down on their commitment to the local church rather than cast it off just because Satan has co-opted so many of these organizations that masquerade as churches. I appreciate your thoughts and may you continue to contend earnestly for the faith.
So many people on the internet and reddit especially are “trauma dumping” – just looking for attention. They’ll tell you they have PTSD, ADHD, SAD, trauma, survivor, blah blah. Nothing on reddit should be taken seriously.